Humans Of Coffee World

Not That Impressive

Crows happen to be one of the most interesting birds around.

They are smart. Resourceful.
They never forget a face.
They hold onto grudges.
They like shiny things.

I have never identified more with a bird.

So one late afternoon. My classes had ended at University, and I was walking towards the exit gate when I saw this fascinating scene:

A crow carried in his beak, an empty Nestle juice box. He then proceeded to peck away at the tiny straw-hole in the juice box. He was so precise!! It was like he knew exactly where he could get a few drops of liquid from!

My thoughts: OMG!! He is so smart! I always knew crows are like the sharpest birds ever! It's the miracle of nature...that this bird has adapted to human evolution, and technology... HE KNOWS THAT THE BOX ACTUALLY CONTAINS A LIQUID. WOW.

And he also knows where to peck to reach into the water-equivalent, to quench his thirst.

This is like that famous crow and stork story, where it cleverly adds stones to the vessel in order to raise the water-level. Mr. Crow...I'm a fan! You da real MVP!!

This was the first impression.

Very impressive.

Then I must have gone like a few steps further, when I saw, a veritable waterfall. I'm serious. There was a broken pipe or something, and it was gushing out water like the Niagra, all over our campus grass.

Mr. Crow....Facepalm.

Not THAT smart after all.

Moral of this story is; don't get too impressed by someone's intelligence. It's important to respect and learn from anyone we meet, but it is equally important to never put a mortal on a pedestal. A place where you blindly trust their intellect, and ideas, by conceding mental superiority, or knowledgeable superiority to them.

It is toxic.

Why?

Lemme just randomly run through the list of notable alumni (ex-students) of my University. It is the oldest business school in South Asia. The best business school in Pakistan... Our alumni include an Ex-Prime Minister, the current President of Pakistan, multiple foreign/finance ministers, Countless CEO's of multi-nationals, Fashion Designers, Movie stars....and recently added jewel in the crown; a terrorist.

Saad Aziz the "Allegedly" convicted terrorist mastermind, is being charged with the murders of more than 40 Ismaili Shia people (Ismaili community Bus was attacked last year). He is also "allegedly" confessing to the assassination of Sabeen Mahmud, a liberal, human-rights activist in Karachi. He is also charged with spreading ISIS/Daesh related literature...Etc. Etc.

The day the news broke, our University's name was emblazoned even before the dude's name...because of it's prestige I guess. The media loves dragging names through the mud. Or I guess they wanted this message to hit home hard;

"A liberal school education can also make your kid a terrorist. It's not just Islamic Madressahs anymore..."

I have my suspicions about the veracity of all these accusations (they are all ideologically non-related incidents) and it seems too neat and unnaturally efficient of the Pakistani Police to wrap up dozens of terror incidents neatly under the belt of one guy. But I do believe that he was somehow involved, out of a misplaced sense of right or wrong.

He happens to be someone a lot of people claim acquaintance with. My teachers at University were distraught for days. They had him in their facebook friend-list...and they claim that he was always a good student. Albeit a little quiet. Definitely not murder material...

People mostly remember him turning religious, a bit too suddenly, and his sudden friendship with a guy from another University, who is alleged to be a "moulvi" or a too-religious person.

His freinds are my seniors and we have a lot of mutual acquaintances. My best friend's Dad used to work with Saad's dad, and she remembers him as a clean-shaven, party loving, cricket playing guy who used to date, and do normal things...he was planning a career in finance. He wanted to run his family restaurant business...

His parents are devastated. His father is the CEO of Unilever Pakistan or something like that. They are a respected, notably normal, moderately muslim family. His mother says that she wants to die before believing that her son is capable of cold-blooded calculated murders of innocents.

But they also remember a transformation within him. Once he befriended the "Extremist" dude from another university, he changed overnight. Broke off old friendships. Turned perfectly religious. Grew a beard. Married a purdah-observing wife (who is now also being accused of having ties to ISIS) he used to attend these lectures, his new friend took him too...he was very impressed by the religious acumen of all these people surrounding him, he used to self-berate for being so out of touch with his faith, he even started living on bare minimum salary, to bring more patience to his life or something...I don't know. His family supported him, despite the fact that he now seemed like a different person.

"It's a phase." They imagined.

He even has a baby daughter.

It's been a number of months now, since he was tortured, and forced to confess to a number of crimes. I don't know how many of them he actually committed...but his story chills me. It is too close to home.

I get creeped out when I imagine him once sitting in the same classes that I sit in. Arguing with teachers over marks. Preparing for internship interview. Hanging out with friends...it is creepy.

The one thing that stands out in this story is his religious transformation. It began with his relationship with all these alleged radical individuals, claiming to be preaching the true Islam. They dazzled him, I imagine. Used his lack of religious upbringing, and knowledge, by impressing him with facts, arguments. Gained his trust. And eventually his mind, and his resourcefulness. This is effectively, how passive brain-washing takes place. Where the victim has no idea that he is being manipulated.

My mantra in life is; Never get too impressed by anyone, too easily. We are all humans. Anyone can make mistakes. Always use my own rationality to judge something that doesn't feel right to me.

Also, I believe, that all truly pure, spiritual transformations come from within. From self-study. From gradual, inexorable small changes in yourself.

When the transformation trigger is completely external; like a friend, or a spouse, or a teacher that impresses us...it will not be natural. It will not stay with you.

Saad's change was abrupt. Overnight. Unexplained. His family didn't even know his new religious friends until they too were arrested...

True Spiritual change will never be abrupt or hurried, if it is from within. Because humans are inherently cynical beings. It takes time for us to process information. Argue with it. Rationalize it. Eventually accept it on our terms...and then apply it on ourselves.

Religious/spiritual knowledge is like food. Would you eat anything someone else chewed up for you? Wouldn't you rather savor your own fresh share, laden in front of you?

Do you think trusting anyone blindly in religious matters is a smart thing to do?